Possessed
by H. Coco
Summary: After a mission, Charmy begins acting strangely. Whats wrong with him? Will the others figure it out? And who are the Ghost Hunters?


**This could be your best one-shot yet.**

Aw! (Blushes) Thanks, Musey! And thank you, loyal readers and reviewers! I really love my job!

**Musey? That's it, no more sugar. Or in this case, reviews. NO REVIEWS! They're like sugar for her!**

I NEED MY SUGAR! Also, thanks to friend and co-author, Midnight Bell. She helped me nurture and develop this idea until it became this story.

**You forgot the disclaimer.**

Ah, I'm not doing it. These people don't need to know that I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any related characters. Oh wait...

**HA!**

SHUT UP! (Runs out crying)

**I am SO dead, aren't I?**

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* * *

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Possessed

Starring: The Chaotix! (Ft. Team Dark)

"Ha! Great work today, boys!" Vector congratulated his team after another successful mission. That seemed to be happening a lot lately; the group would have more missions, and they would all be successes. They've been doing quite well lately. Right now, the trio of defective detectives were walking down main street, drinking caffeine-free soda -They have Charmy, ya know- and discussing their latest case; a man who was keeping secrets from his wife. As it turned out, he was setting up an anniversary surprise and didn't want her to know. After being paid handsomely, Vector treated them to dinner and they began the trek home.

Vector and Espio walked slightly ahead of their younger bee ally, who walked alone. Normally, he would be chattering uncontrollably, but that evening he had a soda straw in his mouth. Neither reptile minded a little peace and quiet, really. After a while, though, Espio turned around to ask Charmy something and found an unpleasant surprise.

"Uh... Vector?"

"What?"

"Where's Charmy?"

Vector turned around to reply, 'Right here', but found the space behind him void of the little bumble bee. Immediately, he dropped his drink and the two ran around the corner, hoping that nothing bad had happened to him. After a block, however, they found him. He walked out a graveyard, his stare empty and his little face expressionless.

"Charmy!" The oldest Chaotix ran to him, shaking his shoulders slightly. "You alright, kid?"

"Em Pleh." The bee replied, staring him dead in the eye. Vector raised one non-existent eyebrow. _What the-?_

Espio rolled his eyes. "C'mon, kid. No time for jokes. We're going home."

"Em Pleh."

"Whatever." The trio made their way home, the strange encounter quickly forgotten. Though the entire trip home, Charmy kept repeating the words, 'Em Pleh' over and over again. Also, he added a new set of words to his gibberish language: 'de redrum ne eb evi'. Which he repeated almost as often as he repeated the other phrase. Though curious, Vector and Espio wrote this off as a child making a gibberish language and left it alone.

That night, Vector tucked the bee in. He and Espio took turns doing it. "Goodnight, Charmy."

"Ym rahc si ohw?"

Vector rolled his eyes. "You're pretty weird, kid." He left the room, turning the light off, and Charmy seemed to nod off almost immediately. _It was pretty late_, Vector mused. He should be getting to sleep, too. They didn't have any cases tomorrow, but you never know, something could pop up.

After washing his face, Vector slid under his covers and tried to fall asleep. Before he closed his eyes, he saw Charmy standing next to his doorway. His eyes immediately snapped open. He turned the lamp next to him on, but the bee was gone. After pondering this for a moment, the crocodile decided he was too tired to care and fell back asleep. He could ask Espio about it in the morning, anyways.

* * *

Espio eyed his boss sceptically, "And you say you saw Charmy by your door, and then he just... vanished?" The crocodile nodded. As soon as he got up, he told his strange vision to Espio. The chameleon raised his eye. "Perhaps you were just tired. Or maybe stressed; we have been busy lately."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it." Vector nodded, grabbing an orange off the table and tossing it to Espio. The ninja grabbed it out of thin air, and began peeling it with a kunai. His boss went to the kitchen to find something else to eat. The gentle hum of beating wings alerted the two detectives to Charmy's arrival. He flew up to them, stared at them, and repeated the same phrase again. "Em Pleh."

"Charmy, stop talking gibberish and get yourself some breakfast." Espio commanded. Charmy turned to him.

"Hsir ebbig gni kaeps ton mi ." Espio sighed, about to retaliate to whatever was said when Vector interfered, voicing his opinion.

"Don't you think that's a little too well said for it to be a complete coincidence?" The two stared at the youngest Chaotix, who went into the kitchen and came back with an apple. The reptilian duo ate in silence, while Charmy spoke to them in complete gibberish. Though Espio wouldn't admit it, he was beginning to realize something was wrong.

After breakfast, Charmy did something he wouldn't normally do; he went to his room and locked himself in. Though concerned, neither of the reptiles approached him. Vector needed to do the paperwork for their last mission, while Espio went out for his daily training. By the time they were finished, Charmy was long out of their minds.

It was when Vector decided to bring Charmy lunch that the next strange thing happened.

The crocodile knocked on the door. "Hey, Charmy? Ya in there?" He knew the bee was. It didn't really matter anyways; Vector had a spare key to every room in the house. After a quick trip back to his room, he returned with the faded bronze colored key and unlocked the door. He poked his head in, spying the younger Chaotix member sitting at his desk, writing something in his drawing notebook. "Charmy, it's time for lunch. You can draw later."

He walked over to the desk, expecting some half-minded doodle. Instead, what he saw rocked him to his core; a set of seemingly random letters. Some were English, and some looked English, but they were jumbled in random patterns and made no sense. Charmy looked up to Vector and repeated that same phrase. "Em pleh."

"Ch-Charmy?" Vector's voice shook slightly. "Go downstairs. It's lunchtime." Charmy frowned, but followed Vector's orders. When he was sure the boy had left, his trembling claw picked up the paper. This was weird. Even for Charmy. Maybe, hopefully, Espio would know what it meant.

The chameleon was downstairs, in the dining room, eating the soup he had prepared for the trio's lunch. The red, steaming liquid was carried to his mouth, blown on, and swallowed, all with his eyes closed. He repeated this pattern again and again. When Vector came down and held the paper up in front of his face, Espio didn't even open his eyes. He just coolly said, "And what is this?"

"THIS is something Charmy wrote. And open your eyes, ya conceited chameleon!" Espio sighed, opening his eyes, and found them widening as he took in what Vector was showing him. He took the paper into his hands and, like Vector, tried to read it. And, like Vector, he ultimately failed.

"Alright," Vector decided. "We'll split up. I'll talk to the kid, you try to decipher that... whatever it is." A nod from both of the reptiles, and they split up to do their separate tasks.

* * *

Espio stared at the paper.

Three hours... three _whole_ hours, and he couldn't figure out what the words were. After determining that they weren't another language online, he spend the rest of the time studying the words, rearranging them, trying to figure out what they say. So far, no luck. Just making nonsense words.

He sighed, trying to make something of Charmy's new strange behavior. It wasn't like he normally acted sane; if anything, signs of sanity probably meant something was wrong. But this was weird, even for the little bee. He'd never seen Charmy do anything quite this strange. And to make matters worse, there was no way for Vector or Espio to help, because they couldn't understand him!

Help...

Espio looked at the letters of the second word in the first sentence. 'Pleh'. The letters made up the word help. The first word could only be, 'me'. Me help? So Charmy was telling them he wanted to help? That really didn't make any sense.

Unless...

'Help me'. That's what he wanted; their help. But why? What was happening to him? And what the heck does that stupid note mean? Espio sighed. This was certainly not going well. Sighing heavily, he took another look at the note. And facepalmed.

Backwards... it was all just written backwards! That's it! And he's probably been speaking backwards, too. But why? It didn't matter. Espio walked to the mirror hanging nearby -for decoration, Vector said- and held it up to the mirror.

He began reading.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Vector was trying to communicate with Charmy. So far, it wasn't going well, mostly due to Vector's impatience. They sat on the floor of Charmy's room, Charmy talking and Vector trying to decipher it.

"Em pleh."

"Uh, listen, I have NO idea what you're saying. Can you give me a hint?" Charmy glared at him, annoyance present on his face. The thought made Vector double take. Charmy? ANNOYED? Never thought that would happen. The bee sighed, repeating the phrase again. Vector scratched his head. This was not going well.

"Why didn't I think of that in the FIRST place?" A familiar voice shouted from downstairs. Vector raised one of his nonexistent eyebrows. That was Espio...

"I'll be back." He promised Charmy. Getting to his feet, he tried not to run downstairs to find out what Espio had discovered. When he arrived in the dining room, he found the chameleon hitting his head against the wall. "That... can't be good. For you or the walls."

"Shut it, Vector." Espio snarled.

Vector rolled his eyes, not swayed by the show of fierceness. "Did you figure anything out?"

"Yeah. Turns out, everything he writes is just BACKWARDS." Here, he took the paper and slipped it into Vector's claws. "Use the mirror to read it. It'll make sense." Vector gave a nod, and held the paper up to the mirror as Espio had before. Once finished reading it, he turned to Espio.

"Is this for real?"

Espio nodded. "Would I fake something like this? Come to think of it, would I fake anything?" Vector had to admit, that was true.

"Guess that also means everything he's been saying is backwards, too." Vector mused, his hand stroking his chin in thought. Espio nodded in agreement. "Well, what does that mean for us?"

"It means, we go up there, talk to Charmy, decode what he says, and get him back to normal." The two nodded to each other and climbed the stairs. Once in Charmy's room, they found the bee sitting on the floor, waiting patiently for them. Another alert; Charmy's not patient for anything. The two sat next to him.

"Alright," Vector snarled. "Whoa are ya and what have you done with Charmy?" The other two looked at him, their heads cocked to the side. Well, Espio thought, that didn't exactly go according to plan.

"Ym rahc si ohw?" The boy asked. Espio took a moment to decipher this, then translated aloud for himself and Vector; 'Who is Charmy?'.

"Charmy is the little boy who's body you've taken over, whoever you are." The bee shook his head no, surprising the two reptiles.

"Tnaw tndid eh gniht yna od tndid I, yaw rehtie. Dess rped seh ro, taht rehtie. Ydob sih ekat em tel eh."

Espio took a few moments, and two repeats, to figure this one out. "'He let me take his body. Either that, or he's depressed. Either way, I didn't do anything he didn't want.' Is that right?" The bee nodded. Vector growled at the young bee.

"Charmy's not depressed!" Here, whoever had Charmy's body shrugged.

"Em pleh owt uoy lliw? Ydob sih tog evi taht ylno, deneppah siht woh rettam tnseod ti." Vector shrugged at Espio, who went to the desk and brought Charmy's drawing pad back. The possessed bee wrote what he had just said, then handed it back to the chameleon. Espio rewrote it the right way, and stared at the bee.

"Help you with what you wrote?" He asked. Vector nudged him, wanting to see what he had written. Charmy nodded. "So, what did happen to Charmy, anyway?"

Vector handed the pad to Charmy, who scribbled down something and handed it to Espio. The Chaotix ninja translated it onto paper, then handed it back to Vector. 'Only one soul can be in a body at a time. Charmy willingly gave his body to me, but he should be around here somewhere. Turn off all the lights.' "You read this. Draw the shades. I'll hit the lights." The moment Vector's large finger fell downwards on the switch, the two got quite a shock.

Next to the Charmy on the floor was another Charmy. He glowed a pale blue, masking any other color, but otherwise looked just like the body. Espio was the first of the reptiles to react. He Approached the blue Charmy cautiously, and stuck his hand through the boy's head. It went straight through, and besides a slight chill, Espio didn't feel anything. He swiftly pulled his hand away. The pale blue bee tried to speak, but it came out as a barely audible whisper.

"Oh, Charmy..." Vector said, sitting next to the downcast blue child. The other Charmy began writing again. Espio translated this aloud.

"He'll be fine. We have a deal; once I complete my business, he can have his body back." Espio turned to his boss. "Well, what do we do, boss?"

Vector had a rare expression for him; a serious one. "We help the ghost. Not like we have much of a choice." He turned to Charmy's body. "We'll do it; we'll help ya find yer murderer."

* * *

The next day Vector, Espio, and Charmy (his body) awoke to a rather nasty surprise. Just outside the agency, a van was parked on the grass. Five humans, including one holding a camera, were standing outside the agency. Vector and Espio, already stressed about the situation with Charmy, decided to take care of this problem as quickly as possible.

"WHAT are you doin here, and WHY is there a camera in my face?" Vector growled as the people pushed towards him. He swatted the camera away, and scowled at what looked to be the leader of this group.

Said leader put on a fake smile -for the camera, of course- and replied to Vector, "WE are the GHOST HUNTERS! And witness sightings last night, plus radiation signals, show that there is a ghost in THIS residence!" Vector gulped, and cast a nervous glance at Espio. The ninja remained calm, though.

"There is no ghost here. So run along, you Ghost Buster wannabes." He snarled. At that moment, with incredible lack of timing, Charmy's body with the spirit inside walked out. He stared at the Ghost Hunters, then turned to his comrades.

"Yeht era ohw?" He pointed to the G. Hunters -What? It sounds cool- while he asked. One of the humans looked oddly at the child.

"What's up with him?" He asked.

Vector sighed. "Relax, he's just speaking backwards." He grunted as Espio jabbed him in the gut with his elbow. The G. Hunters gasped.

"He's possessed!" One of them shouted.

Espio scoffed. "He's not possessed. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's speaking backwards."

"Is there one for why his eyes are glowing?" One of them asked. The five humans and two reptiles leaned closer to Charmy. Sure enough, his eyes were radiating dully of a light blue color. _Perfect timing, Charmy_, Espio thought.

This time, they had no excuse. Luckily, they had an angry crocodile. "Get off my property!" Vector roared. "And if you come back, I'll file a restraining order! Now get!" The crew, not fearful of the law, but fearful of Vector's strong jaws, fled the Chaotix HQ. Espio sighed.

"Subtle, Vector."

"Whatever, we've got work to do!" The two detectives and possessed Charmy started off. Vector turned to the little bee. "Is Charmy nearby?" He nodded.

The trio headed off. According to the ghost -what they were calling whomever possessed Charmy- the murderer had been employed by GUN. As such, they determined Prison Island would be a good place to start. But how were they going to get there?

The answer was exceedingly simple; a young fox named Tails. Although a little skeptic of their reasoning, he allowed them to borrow the Tornado for a trip to Prison Island. With Espio piloting, Vector running gun, and Charmy sitting on Vector's shoulder, they were on their way. The trip itself was uneventful. The landing, however, was quite the opposite.

"ESPIO, BANK LEFT!"

"I AM!"

"YOUR OTHER LEFT!" Their shouts were borderline frantic. The Tornado approached the landing area on Prison Island at a speed too fast to be good. In the end, the Ghost saved the day. In Charmy's body, it flew off of Vector's shoulder, joined Espio in the cockpit, and pushed down on the break. That didn't seem to be doing much to help, as the plane continued it's downward spiral. Both the pilot and passenger screamed at the top of their lungs as they approached the asphalt landing runway with sickening speed. The plane stopped completely a few centimeters from the island surface. Vector opened his eyes, and jumped off the plane. Espio pulled himself out, looking like he was trying not to vomit.

"Well that was... interesting," Espio remarked. Vector sent a glare at the chameleon.

"How come you can do anything but drive?" He asked. The Ghost sent them a very Charmy-like grin, obviously reveling in the fact that it saved them. Vector sighed. "Good job, Ghost. Now, do you remember anything about the agent?" It bit it's lip, stroking it's chin in thought, before shrugging. In the space between the Ghost Hunter meeting and arriving here, it had learned to minimize speaking, as neither reptiles could catch enough of the speech to decode it properly. If it had to say something lengthy, it wrote it down.

"Well," Espio remarked. "I can still probably hack into the GUN database from the terminals in the base, look through the agent files, and be out before GUN can detect me." He and the Ghost nodded.

Vector sighed. "And yet you can't land a plane..."

* * *

There was a slight problem none of them were aware of; the defensive robots were still on. But since the lights were all broken, they could see Charmy -the spirit Charmy- inside the base. He walked and flew like normal, but couldn't be touched or heard beyond a creepy whisper. Charmy distracted the tougher robots while the others past by them. For the less tough security bots, they fought. Mostly, that went well, but once Vector was knocked into the water and they had to take a detour to pick him up at the indoor docks. Soon after, they found the computer room. The back-most computer was mostly undamaged. The rest were toast.

"Well, Espio, do your thing," Vector commanded.

The chameleon nodded to his boss, and moved to the terminal, striking keys. Meanwhile, the Ghost and Charmy were at the other end, seemingly talking. Charmy would nod and reply with strange whispers, which the ghost would reply to with nods of it's own and it's own backwards language. Vector watched over Espio's shoulders, watching him work. Espio sighed. "Do you mind?"

"No, not at all." Vector replied, with a dumb smile. Espio facepalmed, and was about to rebuttal with some awesome ninja comeback, but was interrupted by the Ghost. Who was screaming. The ninja and detective turned around to find Ghost in the clutches of a rather large robot -the type of which they'd been avoiding- and Charmy staring in a panicked fashion. "Keep it up, Espio, I'll handle the metal head!"

It was the type of robot you'd expect GUN to have; large, destructive, and apparently unstable. It was a metallic red and gray coloring, with two feet and two claw-like hands. The cockpit was empty; this was obviously a malfunctioning prototype of the robots GUN had sent after Sonic and Shadow. And in it's left claw was the Ghost, in Charmy's body. Vector tore through the room in a time that was no where near what Shadow and Sonic could do, but still impressive for someone of his size. He grabbed at the left arm, pulling it from it's socket. The robot emitted a sound akin to a scream, but Vector didn't notice. He was too busy yanking the Ghost from the claw.

He didn't notice the homing missiles aimed towards him until the sound of something speeding through the air assaulted his ear holes. He turned briefly to confirm what his mind was making of the sounds, then turned and covered Ghost. He heard the explosion... but didn't feel it. When he glanced up, he found Espio, from the computer, holding up a sheet of paper. He gestured for Vector to finish this, grabbed Ghost, and took off.

Charmy ran over to the bot -still a spirit, remember?- and flew through it several times. Vector found out his plan when the robot started to freeze. He balled his fist, ran towards the bot, and allowed his momentum to pull him through the bot. Frozen from Charmy's attack, it broke into multiple pieces.

Vector grinned. "We did it, kiddo!" He moved to pick Charmy up, but the young bee backed up. Vector stared in confusion until he remembered that Charmy was a spirit. He smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, Charmy. This'll be over soon, I promise."

Charmy nodded, said something in that otherworldly whispering sound he made, and followed as Vector headed outside.

* * *

After flying the Tornado back to Tails -Ghost had to do it, as Vector refused to let Espio drive again- the four regrouped at the Chaotix headquarters. Espio laid the paper in front of his boss, who looked it over. A list of names. "What exactly am I looking at?"

"GUN keeps a list of the people within it's agency who kill. These are the names of everyone on that list within the last sixty years." Espio smirked.

Vector frowned. "And how will this help us?"

"Simple; Ghost tells us stuff from the time period he- she- it's from, and we cross off people until we've got a reasonable amount of names. Then, we investigate and find the murderer!" They turned to the Ghost within Charmy's body, who was already writing stuff down. The ghost Charmy went into the Living room, and sat on the couch. Vector considered going after him, then decided this was slightly more important; he'd comfort Charmy later.

Vector watched Charmy for a moment longer, before turning back to Espio and Ghost. Espio handed him the decoded notes._ Hm, that was fast_.

'I don't remember much. I remember GUN was still a new division of the military... maybe ten years or so when I was killed. I remember having them storm my home... I think someone was arrested, but I can't be sure. I remember... my best friend. What happened to him?'

Vector frowned. Ten years or so... already that was more than half the list gone. But still that left at least thirty agents. Espio already was crossing names off the list. "Anything else?" Espio asked. The Ghost bit it's lip, before writing more stuff down. This time, Espio translated aloud. "I remember the men were of a special division... they were wearing black and green army coats and a strange badge. It looked like this." The Ghost drew a peculiar figure, a triangle, a square, and a small circle.

Espio stared at the rather odd design. It stood for the clearance division, one of the most elite of the GUN armies. That alone crossed out most of the remaining names. There were seven left, a reasonable number to research. Still, a lot had to be done. "I'll begin the research. Pictures, addresses, and jobs, right?" Vector nodded, and Espio set off.

The Ghost tugged at Vector's tail. He turned to look at it, "What is it?"

The ghost had fear in it's large caramel eyes. "Gni ssim si yr mahc!" Vector tilted his head to the left, wondering what the ghost just said. Ghost cried out in frustration, then grabbed Vector's claw and dragged him into the living room. Once there, Vector's heart stopped.

Charmy was gone. The door was open, and outside the van of the Ghost Hunters was driving away at high speeds. Vector couldn't follow it, and by the time he got Espio, they would be long gone. The crocodile growled. This wasn't over yet...

"ESPIO!" said chameleon winced at the booming roar. "What channel it the Ghost Hunters on?"

"Channel... fourteen, I think. Why?" He stopped his research and came outside. Vector clicked through the channels, finally setting on the right one. The leader of the Ghost Hunters appeared, grinning triumphantly at the camera.

"This is Hunter Blue, reporting in. After a relentless search, we found the ghost carelessly lying on the couch of the haunted agency. Of course, it was no match for us!" He moved aside, showing the capsule containing Charmy's spirit, staring worriedly at the camera. "If anyone wants autographs, or just to see the cursed little thing, we're staying at the Hotel Arnando!" And with that, the ending credits for the show came on. Espio growled, obvious anger present in his eyes and face.

"That idiot has gone too far! Trespassing is one thing, but stealing our friend? How'd we not notice him enter anyways?"

"Doesn't matter," Vector growled. "Hold on, Charmy; we're coming for ya!"

* * *

Outside the Hotel Arnando, two reptiles and a possessed bee laid in watch. The room they were watching was on the third floor, fifth window. There, the thieves lied in rest, sleeping on their so called victory. The thought of it made Vector growl.

"Vector," he turned to face the chameleon, who was holding ghost up. The little bee groaned, looking tired and sick. Vector knelt down, feeling his forehead.

"Is he alright?" The concerned crocodile felt no fever, so he withdrew his hand. Espio laid the bee onto the grass, being careful not to cause pain. Still, the bee recoiled at contact with the ground.

Espio sighed. "Vector, when people are possessed, their spirits are still connected with their body. If Charmy's spirit and body aren't close together, one will die, and the other will follow suit. Only ghosts can survive without a body."

Vector raised one eye. "And you know this... how?"

"The same way I learned how to hack computers; from a Japanese video game." Vector facepalmed. "But anyway, I'll go up. It's midnight, they're all probably asleep." The stealthy chameleon jumped upwards, landing on the window sill of the G. Hunters. He carefully opened the window, then closed it behind him. None of the sleeping humans even skipped a snore. Espio rolled his eyes, then spotted the glowing container near the door.

_Those idiots must've been showing him off. Poor kid._

With stealth and grace others could only dream of, Espio crept across the floor of the hotel room, being careful of possible traps. Which they did not have, proving them bigger idiots than Espio assumed. He turned visible in front of the capsule. Charmy's spirit, trapped within, smiled up at him, and he returned the relieved gesture. "Good to see you too, kid." He whispered, then released the spirit from the capsule.

Every alarm sound he'd ever heard, and more, went off in his ear. The lights turned on, causing Charmy to vanish. Espio growled, tightening his grip on his kunai as the G. Hunters awoke, and surrounded him. The leaser, Blue Hunter, gasped at the sight of the empty capsule. He pointed an accusatory finger at Espio. "What did you do with our ghost?"

One of Espio's eyes raised up. "YOUR ghost? He's not even a ghost! Didn't you see how similar -even identical- he looked to the bee at the agency?" The five stared at him blankly. "You know what, never mind, let's just fight!"

And fight they did. One of the G. Hunters -let's call him Orange Hunter- sent a flying kick at Espio. The chameleon dodged it, tucking and rolling away. He then pulled his kunai out behind him, deflecting the coming blow of a laser. He then turned around, facing a hunter wearing red. Let's call him Red Hunter. Red Hunter drew the laser, firing three times. Each time, Espio swung out of the way with the grace of a dancer. He then held ran forward, grabbing Red and throwing him into the wall, knocking him out cold. One down, four to go.

Yet another G. Hunter, wearing Purple, charged at Espio. His name was... PURPLE HUNTER! Purple flipped over Espio, landing on his feet and changed to a standard kung fu stance: the Tiger. Espio smirked; this was going to be fun. Purple Hunter attempted a strike at Espio's ribs, but Espio blocked with one arm, holding position. With the other arm, he knocked Purple back, and readied himself for another attack. Purple jumped up, striking Espio's head, only to find a hand blocking him. Espio moved his hand back to basic stance as Purple steadied himself.

A war cry emitted from Purple, and he struck multiple blows towards the chameleon. Espio blocked them, then countered with a blow to the shoulder, knocking his opponent backwards. Purple jumped up, performing a spin kick, which Espio had to throw himself to the floor to dodge. He then swept his legs across the floor, knocking Purple to the floor. They both stood up, and Purple attempted a kick to the chest. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as Espio grabbed the leg and threw him into the wall. Purple slumped down to the floor. Two down.

Another laser fired from Red's blaster, which Espio barely managed to dodge. He looked up and spotted Orange wielding the weapon with narrowed eyes. The chameleon pounced towards the offending Hunter, pulling the blaster from him. Orange fought back, and soon they were in a tug-a-war of epic proportions. After a little bit of the same battle, Espio pulled hard enough to take the blaster from Orange, using it to shoot at his feet. Orange jumped away, slipping and falling to the floor. That's three down... where was Blue?

Blue jumped out from nearby, grabbing Espio from behind. The chameleon jabbed him in the gut, and Blue fell away. He then threw a kunai of his own at Espio's hand, pinning him by his glove to the wall. Luckily, he had kunai of his own. Espio grabbed three of them and threw, missing Blue completely. The lead Hunter laughed, but realized his error as the three stringed chandelier fell to the floor cutting the two off. Espio pulled his hand from the wall and ran for the window. On the way, he spotted the fifth member of the group, and went into fighting stance. The plainclothes wearer seemed to be ready to wet himself.

"Please! I'm just the camera man! Don't hurt me!" Espio sneered, deciding him not worth his time. Without a second glance, he ran towards the wall, the G. Hunters hot on his tail. At the wall near the window, he turned around.

He smirked at them. "I'll take my leave now, Ghost Buster wannabes. ULTIMATE NINJA POWER!" And with those final words, Espio threw something to his feet. There was a flash, that only lasted seconds, and then he was gone. The G. Hunters gasped, running to the area.

"How did he do that?" Purple asked. "I wanna learn to do that!"

Blue sneered. "I don't know how he did it, but we'll catch that demon ninja. He stole our ghost! C'mon, boys!" The G. Hunters ran out of their hotel room, heading for... somewhere.

Meanwhile, just outside the window, Espio stuck to the wall in a way only a chameleon could, sighing with his hand on his forehead. "The window was open, I disappeared right next to it, and they STILL couldn't tell where I went. Man, these hunter guys are stupid!"

Sighing, Espio climbed down. He still had a lot of research to do, and waiting around until those idiots figure it out wasn't helping anyone.

* * *

"Alright, based on what little information Ghost has given us, and the information acquired at Prison Island, this is the home of the murderer." Espio informed as they approached a small house in the middle of no where. Vector nodded, and Ghost smiled. Finally, this quest would be done! But why didn't it feel like it?

Ghost didn't have time to analyze this as they came to the door. Vector knocked on it, then took a few steps back. The crocodile then subconsciously looked to his left, where he knew Charmy was, though he couldn't see him. The bee had been excited about this as well. He would finally get his body back. The door opened, revealing a elderly human male. He was lanky, but the life of the military had it's effects; he seemed jumpy and paranoid.

"Who-who are you?" He stuttered. Vector decided, for once, to let Espio do the talking. And talk the chameleon did.

"I am Espio, of the Chaotix. And you murdered our client." The chameleon looked back to Ghost, who fiddled it's thumbs.

"Huh?" The man scratched his head in confusion. "I didn't murder anyone! Except for that little girl..."

"Wait," Vector turned to Ghost. "You're a GIRL?" The bee snickered, the nodded. It then turned to where it knew Charmy was. The real bee had facepalmed at Vector's comment.

"I remember..." The man looked straight ahead, as though having a flashback. "We invaded on order of our general, to terminate the project. We almost succeeded, too. Then, the girl got in the way. I-I did what I was ordered to do! General promised I wouldn't be arrested, I... you're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

Espio shook his head. Thanking the man, they left. "Was that you're story?" He asked Ghost. She nodded. "Funny, it sounds familiar..."

Vector nodded. "That's because we've heard it before." Here, he turned to Ghost. "Isn't that right... Maria?" Ghost's eyes widened. Maria... that was her name, Maria! She also remembered her grandfather, the ARK, and Shadow...

"Wod ahs ees ot tnaw I!" She demanded. The reptilian duo nodded; that seemed reasonable. Vector felt his hand grow cold, and knew Charmy was there. Holding his hand. The boy was terrified. He grinned.

"Don't worry, Charmy! After this. We'll make her give yer body back!" And with this declaration, they headed towards the only place where one could find Shadow now a days...

* * *

"SHADOW! GET YOUR FEET OFF THE COFFEE TABLE!" Rouge snapped at her roommate. Shadow shrugged, obeying her... this time. After all, she did own the place. He sighed. Nothing exciting had happened in weeks, and he was getting bored. He hated being bored, because Rouge would keep insisting on setting him up.

That's when the doorbell rang.

"SHADOW! ANSWER THE DOOR!" Rouge called. He could hear the sound of a blowdryer going in the bathroom. _She must have a date_, Shadow mused. He picked himself off the couch and opened the door to see the three bumbling idiots he least wanted to.

"What are you three doing here?" He asked. Vector smiled, Espio smirked, and Charmy looked like he'd seen Christmas morning. He squealed, latching onto Shadow like if he let go, one of them would disappear. Vector yanked Charmy off, much to the bee's chagrin.

"Sorry about that, Shadow, but do we got a story for you!" Vector smiled apologetically, and Shadow shrugged. Beats being a third wheel on Rouge's date, right? So he lead them into the Living Room. He left for a brief moment, coming back with ice water and a bowl of candy for his guests. Vector grabbed a handful of candy, scarfed it down, and washed it down with water. Espio politely took a piece and thanked him, then took the water. Charmy's response was surprisingly closer to Espio's. He picked up a piece of candy, plopped it in his mouth, then picked up the candy and nodded thankfully.

"So, what is this about?" The ebony hedgehog asked. Vector smiled, and began story-telling. From start to finish, Shadow found he couldn't stop listening. If anything, he seemed to listen closely, by the end of the story, he turned to Charmy. "M-Maria?" The bee nodded, tears forming in his eyes.

Shadow picked up and hugged the bee. How this was possible, he didn't know, but he believed them. Maria was here, he could feel it. He pulled away and looked to the Chaotix. "So... where's the real Charmy?" They sighed, then turned off the lights. Without them, the real Charmy appeared, glowing that same pale blue. Shadow blinked, but otherwise made no sign to determine whether or not this was effecting him.

"Wodahs..." Maria whispered. "Og ot em rof emit sti." To the surprise of the Chaotix, Shadow understood that. He nodded sadly, giving her one last goodbye hug. "Uoy evol I... wodahs rehtorb." He teared at this. He whispered goodbye to Maria, then stood up. Maria came to Charmy, whispering something that neither Vector or Espio caught. Shadow did, though, and nodded, as though realizing something. The two shook hands, as the Spirit Charmy disappeared, and the real Charmy fainted.

"Charmy!" Vector and Espio were by his side in a second. Vector gently picked him up, cradling him gently. Charmy opened his eyes.

"V-vector? Espio?" He said. Then he yawned. "I'm exhausted! Can we go home?" The two reptiles sighed in relief, happy to have him normal again.

"Sure Charmy, in a moment," He handed the young bee to Espio, then approached Shadow. "What did Maria say to Charmy when she left?"

Shadow frowned. "She said... 'Don't be sad. You're not as alone as you think'. Which was kinda strange, because Charmy isn't sad... is he?"

Vector sighed. "Ya know, I'm not really sure anymore. Thanks, Shadow." The senior detective looked to his teammates, Charmy asleep in Espio's arms. "C'mon, boys, we're leaving." The Chaotix left, slamming the door behind them.

"SHADOW! DON'T SLAM ANY DOORS!" Shadow sighed.

* * *

Later that night, the Chaotix sat in their living room. Vector and Espio sat on the couch, staring at Charmy. The young bee himself twiddled his thumbs, well aware of the awkwardness within the room.

"Charmy," Vector broke the silence at last, "How did you get possessed?" Charmy didn't answer, though he did look up from his thumb twiddling. "Please Charmy?" Finally, the boy sighed.

"Well, what happened was... I saw a light in the cemetery we passed. You two were absorbed in your conversation; you wouldn't have noticed I left."

"We did!" Vector cried, interrupting Charmy. The bee glared at him.

"Yeah, after you'd walked a few blocks. Now, can I finish my story?" Vector went quiet. "Okay. When I approached the light, a hand came out of it, grabbed me, and pulled me into it. A young girl's voice whispered, 'Do you wanna be my friend?'. I nodded, because I didn't know what else to do. She told me because I saw the light, I could be possessed, and she wanted to find her murderer. She said if I did, she would be my best friend forever." Charmy looked down. "I took her up on that offer, because I don't have any friends... not really."

Vector stared at Charmy throughout the whole tale. Now, he grabbed the young bee's hand and sighed. "I guess we kinda owe you an apology, kiddo. Sorry." He jabbed Espio in the ribs.

"Yeah, sorry Charmy."

"We really do care about you. We're your friends, and never forget that."

Charmy looked Vector in the eye, and put his hand out. "Team Chaotix forever?"

Vector grinned. "Team Chaotix forever!" He placed his claw atop Charmy's.

Espio nodded, a grin playing on his own face. "Team Chaotix forever." He agreed, before putting his hand atop the others. From the other side of the window, Maria smiled. She got the answers she wanted, and helped a team of friends grow closer. This certainly has been a successful week. With these thoughts, she turned around, leaving the Chaotix to bond.

* * *

**Epic! Humor, drama, friendship... like I said, your best one-shot yet.**

Awesome! Once again, credit to Midnight Bell for all her help. You rock, Nutmeg!

**Hope you didn't die in the storm.**

Real positive, Muse.

**Yeah, yeah.**


End file.
